Rockets cap 5-2 preseason with rout of Magic

ORLANDO, Fla. — If Rockets coach Kevin McHale had brought a to-do list to Friday night’s preseason finale, he might not have crossed off every line, but he would have given himself more to do than the game itself did.

The Rockets could not have hoped for a better conclusion to the preseason, finishing 5-2 with a 108-92 blowout of the Orlando Magic. Jeremy Lin made a significant offensive adjustment and had his best scoring game of the preseason. The bench, led by Carlos Delfino, Shaun Livingston and especially Greg Smith, dominated.

The Rockets led by as many as 30 points before McHale began playing the guys so far to the end of the bench that there were not enough seats for them.

The Rockets did not assume all the tasks on McHale’s list heading into training camp had been similarly checked off, but as they look to the start of the regular season against Detroit on Wednesday night, they pointed to significant progress.

That might not be enough. They had a long way to go. But the strides were significant and undeniable.

“We’re moving in the right direction,” McHale said. “It’s going to be a process this year. There will be bumps in the road as there always is, especially with young guys. But we’re finding a group of guys and they’re getting some chemistry, which is nice. We had some really nice ball movement tonight.

“We had the ball zipping from side to side. We had some good stuff happening.”

Lin finds the range

Through 26 days and seven preseason games, the Rockets found that is how they must play, pushing tempo and moving the ball. They had assists on 31 of 41 field goals Friday, finishing the preseason averaging 26.4 per game. When the ball did not move in the preseason or the players tried to go one-on-one, the Rockets were crushed by Dallas and San Antonio. When they ran and kept the ball moving, the offense was surprisingly effective.

“We came to camp not knowing what to expect with all the new faces and young guys, but we’re walking away with very positive, happy vibes going into the regular season,” Kevin Martin said. “When you have combinations like this that just started playing together — especially with Omer (Asik) who has never been a starter and Jeremy who just started 25 games and Pat (Patterson) who never started — you never know what could happen.

“But it seemed like we came together pretty fast.”

Lin might have found how he must attack in the season after last season’s breakthrough. With defenses converging on him when he goes to the rim, he often pulled up for midrange shots. Making just 22.2 percent of his shots in the preseason, he converted five of 10 on Friday, including three of four 3-pointers, his first made 3s of the preseason.

“I just wanted to make a lot of simple plays,” said Lin, who had 13 points, five assists and no turnovers in 23 minutes. “That’s what coach talked to me about. I wanted to make simple plays, whether it was an open jumper or a quick, easy pass.”

A lot of positives

Lin’s offensive struggles have overshadowed many preseason developments, but the Rockets have been thrilled with Asik’s defense and rebounding, and surprised at his ability to contribute offensively by cutting to the rim and as a passer.

They have been similarly pleased with their veteran acquisitions Livingston and Delfino, with both finishing the preseason with strong games. Terrence Jones removed himself from the pack of young players to take over as Patterson’s backup at power forward. But the bigger surprise could be Smith, who led the Rockets with 15 points in just 20 minutes Friday and finished the preseason making 93.3 percent of his shots.

Eager to get going

They also have learned if they play their young players together in bunches, it can be a disaster. They have been overly reliant on Martin to key the offense. They similarly fall off badly on the defensive end when Asik is not on the floor.

But heading into preseason, depth was the least of their worries.

“We definitely made strides, especially defensively,” Chandler Parsons said. “We’re definitely getting better there in rotations, helping each other out in our team defense.

“I know all our guys are itching for the season to start. It’s exciting.”

If nothing else, that is something the Rockets could not say four weeks ago.